Is My Priority Date Current? Check Now

Your priority date is, essentially, your place in line for a Green Card. 

For employment-based categories that require a labor certification (most EB-2 and EB-3 cases), the priority date is set by the date your employer filed the PERM application with the Department of Labor. For categories that don’t require labor certification, like EB-1 or EB-2 National Interest Waiver, the priority date is when USCIS received your I-140 petition. Either way, you can find your priority date on the Form I-797 receipt notice (Form I-797C) you received from USCIS when your I-140 was filed.

Your priority date is current when it’s earlier than the date listed in the current month’s Visa Bulletin for your Green Card category. If there’s a visa available to you, you can take the next step toward permanent residency, either by filing an adjustment of status application or by completing consular processing at a U.S. embassy abroad.

It’s OK if that sounds a bit confusing. Reading the Visa Bulletin and determining whether your priority date is current is a skill every immigrant pursuing a Green Card has to learn. But our simple online priority date calculator can make it easy to see where you stand in your wait for an immigrant visa to become available.

How to check your priority date

To find out whether your priority date is current, you first need to confirm whether U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is using Dates for Filing or Final Action Dates to determine when you can apply for an adjustment of status.

If you’re outside the U.S., you’ll use the Final Action Dates chart.

Once you know which chart USCIS is using, you can look up your priority date on the USCIS’ visa bulletin page. 

• Find your category. Start with either employment-based or family-based.
• Locate your specific visa category and your country of chargeability on the Visa Bulletin chart.
• If your priority date is earlier than the cutoff date on the Visa Bulletin, you can complete the last step to get a Green Card and file an I-485 for an adjustment of status.

If you applied for an employment-based Green Card, you could also use our priority date checker tool to confirm whether your priority date is current. It’s free, easy to use, and requires no personal data.

How to use our priority date checker

Using Manifest’s priority date checker takes less than a minute. Here’s how:

1. Select your employment-based preference category from the drop-down menu (for example, EB-1, EB-2, or EB-3).
2. Indicate your country of chargeability using the drop-down menu. Your country of chargeability is generally your country of birth, not your country of citizenship. This matters because the U.S. government applies per-country limits that cap the number of immigrant visas issued to any single country in a fiscal year.
3. Enter your priority date. If your case required a PERM labor certification, this is the date your employer filed the PERM with the Department of Labor. If you self-petitioned (EB-1A or EB-2 NIW), it’s the date USCIS received your I-140. You can find this date on your Form I-797C receipt notice from USCIS.
4. Select whether to check your priority date against the Dates for Filing chart or the Final Action Dates chart.
5. Click “Check My Priority Date.”
6. Read the result. The tool will tell you whether your priority date is current and whether visa availability allows you to take the next step in your Green Card application.

How our priority date checker works

The Manifest priority date checker pulls data directly from the U.S. Department of State’s monthly Visa Bulletin. Each month, the Department of State publishes updated cutoff dates for each employment-based preference category and country of chargeability. These cutoff dates determine which priority dates are current and which applicants can move forward with their Green Card application.

When you enter your preference category, country of chargeability, and priority date, the tool compares your information against the most recent Visa Bulletin data. If your priority date falls before the listed cutoff date, the tool confirms that your date is current. If your date is later than the cutoff, it means you’ll need to continue monitoring future bulletins for movement, and the tool indicates that.

Keep in mind that USCIS decides each month whether to use the Dates for Filing chart or the Final Action Dates chart for applicants adjusting status from within the U.S. The checker lets you choose which chart to check against, so you can confirm your eligibility under whichever chart USCIS is currently using. If you’re outside the U.S. and going through consular processing, you’ll always use the Final Action Dates chart.

The Final Action Dates chart is also the one that determines when your Green Card can actually get approved.

Next steps: What to do when your priority date is current

When your priority date becomes current, it’s time to act. If you’re in the U.S., you’ll file Form I-485 to adjust your status to that of a permanent resident. If you’re abroad, you’ll move forward through consular processing at a U.S. embassy or consulate.

Either way, a strong application package matters. Errors or missing documentation can lead to requests for evidence (RFEs), processing delays, or worse. And if USCIS decides to switch from the Dates for Filing chart to Final Action Dates in a future month, or if retrogression pulls cutoff dates backward, the window to file could narrow.

Manifest Law’s immigration attorneys have helped thousands of applicants navigate the Green Card process from I-140 petition filing through adjustment of status approval. If your priority date is current, or getting close, request a consultation with Manifest Law to make sure your application is ready to go.